Are Your Sleep Patterns Affecting Your Job Search?

While sleep deprivation is a common issue that is often overlooked, it can have a bigger impact on your job search than you may realize. Just how much can a lack of sleep affect your chances of getting hired? Here are three ways that skipping out on ZZZs can hinder your job search.

You’re More Irritable

It’s no secret that when you’re sleep-deprived you are more stressed, angry and mentally exhausted than when you get a full night’s rest. And if you’re repeatedly not sleeping enough, how can you be your best self? If you’re groggy and grumpy, chances are other people are taking notice of your attitude.

It’s one thing to not get the job because the hiring manager selected someone more qualified. But it’s a completely different situation when a lack of sleep made you come across as irritable or even uninterested during your job interview.

When you stay up later and miss out on sleep, you’re sabotaging your own success. Just one extra hour or two of sleep each night could make a big difference.

You’re More Likely To Make Mistakes

Studies have revealed that sleep deprivation is a major performance killer. Not only can sleep deprivation affect your performance on the actual job, but it can also prevent you from making smarter decisions during the job hunting process — from filling out applications to giving well thought out answers in interviews.

If you find that you are only getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep each night during your job search, chances are you’re making silly mistakes such as resume typos or just simply not thinking through your job search as much as you would if you were getting the quality sleep that your body needs.

You’re Not As Creative

When you’re sleep deprived, you’re not as creative as you would typically be. You may be thinking, why is creativity important to my job search? Regardless of the field you’re going into, you will have to show how innovative you are as a candidate at some point during the hiring process. Whether it’s creating a resume that is visually appealing or putting together unique solutions to a case study during an interview, you must be able to make yourself stand out against other potential candidates.

These situations can be stressful enough and adding sleep deprivation to an already high-pressure situation doesn’t bode well. Do yourself a favor and make sure you are well rested so you can perform at your best.

Now that you know how sleep can impact your job search, here are some common sleep issues that professionals face along with a few tips on how to get better sleep 👇😴